T.J. Maxx shoppers urged to check accounts

MONTPELIER, Vt. – Vermont’s banks were urging consumers to check credit and debit accounts Tuesday, nearly a week after the company that owns T.J. Maxx, Marshall’s and other retail chains reported a major computer security breach.

Chris D’Elia, president of the Vermont Bankers’ Association, said one bank, which he declined to name, had been told by Framingham, Mass., based TJX Companies Inc., that more than 1,600 of the bank’s customers had their account numbers compromised.

“The best action for consumers right now is to verify what’s going on in your account,” D’Elia said. “Something may not show up today; something could show up three months from now.”

He said that on learning customers’ account numbers had been compromised, many banks are issuing new numbers and new debit and credit cards.

“Banks around the state are starting to learn which customers have been impacted, learning which cards have been compromised,” D’Elia said.

In addition to T.J. Maxx and Marshall’s, TJX owns HomeGoods and A.J. Wright stores in the United States and other chains abroad. TJX said in a statement that the compromised data appeared to involve customer purchases from 2003 and from the latter half of 2006.